Dear Spinning Circle,
Please note, the Live Stream will be changing to SATURDAY mornings beginning in September!
Thank you for being here today, especially those who were able to make it to the Live Stream. I appreciate your time spent here in this place with me. I hope you feel most welcome because you are welcome here.
Enjoy the show!
ONGOING Yarn Substitution Content – May – August 2020 – view the trailer here & INTRO video here
- Be sure to sign up for the Wool n’ Spinning Newsletter at welfordpurls.com – will resume in September
- For a softcover copy of How I Spin: A Sock Study, check here & e-book link for patrons (>$5/month) here
- Unbraided: The Art & Science of Spinning Colour – EBOOKS available here & book orders can be made here.
Community Participation
For August, tell us about your biggest accomplishment in spinning – not necessarily your favourite spin – but your biggest accomplishment. Episode thread here or comment below here on YouTube!
Breed & Colour Studies: Charollais
Alaska by Camille Descoteaux
- Crafty Jaks Boutique May 2019 Fibre Club – Charollais
- Cascade 220 Heathers in Characoal
- Spun and fulled as singles, chain-plied to make thicker worsted-weight yarn
- Knit on 4.0mm/US 6 & 4.5mm/US 7 needles
Tamar (@2ndzephr) says: This is the final skein for my breed and color study. 356yds/3.3 oz of 20wpi singles yarn spun supported long draw with the batt split in five lengthwise for stripey color repeats. It was slightly fulled and snapped to finish. This one was much more stop and go than my initial 3 ply. My experience with Charollais is that very little twist is required to make a balanced singles yarn so I had to stop frequently to redistribute and check ply back despite going to lower ratios. I love this yarn more as a singles. It’s softer and has more of a halo spun that way. *side note: you have to love the coiling chaos of a singles yarn before you wash and finish it. It’s like magic! Happy spinning all!
Book Club
#booksbooksbooks channel on Slack
As a community, we are delving into a Jane Austen Book Club. We will be reading Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen. Reading can begin anytime and @bethy40 (Becca) in our community will be coordinating Zoom Book Clubs for us to meet within to discuss chunks of the book at a time.
We are currently deciding on our next antiracism book to study. Please see the Slack channel for the Zoom links as they are posted.
Made with Love – ALONG
Thank you to those who participated in our make-along! Please get in touch with myself, Becca (@bethy40) or Rebecca (@rebbiejaye):
- Shetland, 4oz, pin-drafted roving: Tamar @2ndzephyr
- Friesian Batt (handcarded): Jill @jillthemenace
- Friesian Batt (handcarded): Mindy @Dmstowers
- Stitch Markers: Linda @nauti54knitter
- Stitch Markers: Becca @bethy40
- Carded batt (Cheviot or Castlemilk Moorit) from Becca: Kelly @tomatl
- Qivuit cloud (from Rebecca): Sherri @prairiefirebird
- Qivuit cloud (from Rebecca): Erica @weavemag
- Arctic Berries braid (from Rebecca): Hannah @hanmadeknits
- Arctic Berries braid (from Rebecca): Glenda @madstasher1
Handspun Weaving
Kelly (@tomatl, post no. 198) says: Thought I’d share my first hand spun weaving project – seven years in the making (because of these skeins were 7+ years old). Warp and weft is all hand spun, and the fibres were several different wools to 100% alpaca then dyed with plant dyes. The light green is a 2-ply Ile de France (spun long draw) first dyed with osage then dipped in indigo. The medium blue/green is Corriedale, chain plied, first dyed with chestnut and osage then dipped in indigo. There is a straight blue in there, that’s a 2-ply merino dyed with indigo. The dark brown is a 100% 2-ply alpaca spun worsted (natural colour), and the light brown is a 2-ply alpaca/romney/cotswold blend spun on my turkish spindle (semi-woollen, also natural colour). I warped and wove with absolutely zero planning, so I was quite happy to see when it came out as an unintentional plaid. The whole thing is about 65” by 20” wide – I’m thinking it’ll make a lovely runner. I also also quite happy when none of my warp snapped, especially since I had not spun any of these thinking they’d eventually end up in a woven project.
Finished Object – Spinning
- 40% BFL, 25% Alpaca, 20% Tussah Silk & 15% tow flax
- spun worsted, continuous backwards, smoothing
- plied traditional 2-ply – featured on The Wool Circle (Ep. 24)
Works in Progress – Spinning
Small Bird Workshop – CVM/Mohair 80/20
- Sourced locally, processed in Kamloops
- pin-drafted roving
- took Ashford e-Spinner 3 to beach and spun all morning!
- Lendrum Saxony – 18:1, Scotch Tension
- Filed away burr on flyer – spinning beautifully now!
- Majacraft Suzie Pro, undyed
- worsted-spun, continuous backwards with lots of smoothing
Works in Progress – Knitting
Pink Velvet by Andrea Mowry
- Jamieson’s Spindrift coral & unlabelled dark teal (200 yards)
- 3.5mm/US 4 needles – swatch pending
Poet by Sari Norland
- Swans Island Natural Colors Collection in Goldenrod, fingering (100% Merino)
- gauge swatch, 3.5mm/US 4 needles, got gauge!
Sauvabelin Sweater by Jessica Gore
- Custom Woollen Mills fingering (swatched to sport weight, rustic)
- 3.75mm/US 5 needles = gauge
Thank you so much for joining me today!
Until then, Happy Spinning!
